Resume Preparation

SUCCESSFUL RESUME WRITING

"Your resume should make the reader keen to meet you"

It is common, and quite unprofessional for job seekers to present a written resume that is not consistent with their profiles on LinkedIn and other social media. How then can a potential employer know which set of dates or career achievements is correct?

Your career and ambitions at a glance

Start with a tight description of your strengths and experience and tie this to where you want your career to go. Explicitly identify what you want to do. For example, will you work long working hours for significant financial gain or would you prefer to have more of a private life and a lower level of financial reward?

Style

Keep your resume to two or three pages. Use bullet points rather than large blocks of text. Generally use an “active’ voice. For example, rather than saying, “I was the Financial Controller and oversaw 4 staff to produce internal accounting reports” say “As Financial Controller I lead 4 staff. Major achievements were to reduce turn around time in the xxx process, the result of which was a reduction in average costs by yy%”

The Facts (and nothing else)

Set out your experience starting with your recent job first working backwards in time. Unless it is particularly noteworthy, do not go into detail regarding soft skills such as your ability to work well within a team or under pressure: this can be left for the interview. Do not exaggerate your achievements; at best, you will not be able to justify or verify the exaggeration. At worst, were you ever found to have misrepresented yourself, you could lose your job.

The final section

Here you should add personal details such as sporting interests, hobbies or community and charity involvement. In total, this should be something that conveys a positive image and portrays you as a person, not just a worker.

Physical layout

Ensure your resume is consistently formatted. Is the type and size of font consistent? Are date formats consistent? Are indenting and bullet points lined up? Is the use of bold text and underlining consistent? While this might seem trivial, until you proceed to an interview, your resume is your face with the potential employer.